IKEA customers in Singapore urged and encouraged improvement in food quality of its restaurants

IKEA Singapore is stopping chicken wings sells starting on 23 May, to improve on the wings before bringing them back, IKEA said on Facebook on 19 May.

“Thank you for all your feedback. We are aware that our chicken wings have not been meeting our customers' satisfaction recently, so we have decided to stop selling them temporarily from 23 May so we can improve on it.”

“Together with our supplier, we are committed to providing quality food products for everyone. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your continued support,” the post read.

IKEA said that the move was not a publicity stunt. They said it received customer feedback about the wings' taste and texture and reacted for better result. They cannot tell how long it will take to improve the dish, but they said: "We hope as soon as possible."

In place of the chicken wings, IKEA will be selling Chicken Tenders at $1/pc and 4 pcs of Chicken Tenders and Garlic fries for $5. IKEA said on the post that these will be available at the IKEA restaurants from 24 May onwards.

Ikea's Singapore stores in Alexandra Road and in Tampines both have restaurants that sell the chicken wings.

Many Facebook users who were customers reacted positively to the news, some readers urged and encouraged IKEA to improve, however, many also complained to the dropping quality of all the food including meatballs, even coffee and soft drink, and urged improvements:

Edric Hsu wrote, “It's always good and reassuring to know when companies pay attention to customers' needs and feedback, and actually work on improving themselves. That's already a big step in the right direction!”

Cindy Angelique Chia wrote “It used to be so yummy.. crispy.. juicy.. old school taste .. just like how old grandma would marinade and cook it.. until one fine day few years back.. everything changed...” “The cafe served much better food previously.. you get different local breakfast choice every morning.. the menu changes fairly often.. then you decide to streamline it.. it became the same everyday... probably more mass production to cut costs and increase profit.. but somethings got to give.. that's the taste... what a pity..”

Candy Loh wrote, “Ikea, finally you realized the quality of chicken wings has dropped. And this was not recent, it was for some time! And as well as the rest of food too... I have stopped eating at Ikea since then. Please look into all the food menu and improve them.”

Desmond Charles Perry-Wong wrote, “… Ikea membership now only gives you coffee or tea. It's went from glasses of soft drink or coffee of tea, to paper cup of soft drink or coffee tea to now only coffee or tea. I am pretty sure this is simply the case of Ikeno Singapore cutting cost for the sake of greed.”

Iris Lim wrote, “Yes the taste of the chicken wings are no longer the same... also the size of the wings have shrunk too! It's good that IKEA decides to do something about this... hope we can get back the same old chicken wing which Singaporeans all love previously!”

CIEI wrote, “My family used to look forward to the food at Ikea but not anymore. The meatballs and wings which are the favourites no longer taste the same. Very sad.”

Pangaea Panthalassa wrote, “Why stop at chicken? Its your signature meatballs that has been steadily shrinking for many years now. I remember way back in late 90s when your meatball size was the same as the 50cent coin. Just yesterday at IKEA (Tampines), the size has almost shrunk nearly to 20 cent coin. I am a huge meatball fan, the taste is still there (although your brown sauce has been watered down as well) but the size is just... well, frustrating to see.”

Allan Foo wrote, “Your famous Salmon and Meatball standard also dropped for quite some time (even since you switch Meatball to local supplier)! They used to be so nice. You should also look into it!

Hafiz Euroking wrote, “It's used to be juicy now it's so dry. I don’t mind paying more for quality food, when I shop at IKEA I will surely end up dining there. I'm hoping for more a better quality and a wider range of food selection.

Kenneth Yong wrote, “Yes! Looking forward to your re-launch! I used to like going there for your wings, but the past two times was such a disappointment that even my wife asked me to remind her not to go IKEA again for the wings.”

Jeffrey Ths wrote, “The coffee was good many years back when each cup was brewed from coffee beans. Now it's mass produced in the tank and tasteless.”

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